Bra Bands Can Indicate How Supportive it is

Recently one of our readers asked us about her bra-fitting dilemm – the catch is that her band wouldn’t lie flat on the sternum even though it was pretty snug. She has sent several photos, and they showed that probably the band construction is at fault here. The band was a three-piece one, and it was not stable enough to stay on the ribcage and keep the cups in place. Instead, it allowed the breast to slightly slip below.

There are two kinds of bands: ones that go along the entire bra in almost one piece: a part of the band continues below the cups, and ones that are connected only to the sides of the cups: this band is made of three separate pieces.

Three-piece band bra and continuous band bra can support breasts differently.

A three-piece band bra is often unstable: just try to stretch the band and the underwires will stretch too – that would lead to making the cups broader and shallower. This kind of band doesn’t hug the torso as tightly as a one-piece band, so it might try climbing on top of your breasts.

A continuous band bra stays below the rib-cage and keeps the cups stable. The cups and underwires are more likely to not stretch when you strech them. That’s not surprising that most lingerie brands make their bras with almost exclusively this kind of bands.

So, ladies, next time you are going to buy a bra, pay attention what kind of bands it has. Apparently, this is more important for women with fuller busts, though it won’t be excessive informeation for girlsw with more modest ones. And of course not all bras with three-piece bands are bad, especially if they are from bands with firm underwires and generally supportive bras.